By Rezo Nòdwès -9 mai 2022
A Haitian gang infamous for kidnappings for ransom has seized at least 17 people from a tourist bus they were travelling in.
MORE THAN 1,200 PEOPLE, 81 OF THEM FOREIGN NATIONALS, WERE ABDUCTED LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO HAITI’S CENTER FOR ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH ON HUMAN RIGHTS.
Lundi 9 mai 2022 ((rezonodwes.com))–
Eight of the passengers are reportedly Turkish nationals, the remaining eight are Haitian and the driver is from the Dominican Republic.
They were kidnapped in the same area outside the capital, Port-au-Prince, in which a Dominican diplomat was abducted last month.
The diplomat was freed after four days.
Dominican newspaper El Día described the Turkish nationals as « missionaries » who had crossed into Haiti from neighbouring Dominican Republic.
But the Turkish consul in Haiti said they were « with an organisation promoting education ».
Haitian media said they were seized in Croix-des Bouquets, the stronghold of the 400 Mawozo gang.
Kidnappings for ransom have surged in Haiti in the past two years.
More than 1,200 people, 81 of them foreign nationals, were abducted last year, according to Haiti’s Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights.
Among the foreigners kidnapped last year were 17 Christian missionaries from the US and Canada. The 400 Mawozo gang demanded $1m (£800,000) for the release of each of them.